Interpretations:Robot Parade

Basically about a future in which young children's fantasies are realized, and these children command the robots that will rule out lives. -Walrus

I actually think it might be a tad more than that.There's a reason that it's the children who are commanding all these robots. I mean, where are the adults? Personally, I think the adults have all realized that robots are silly, pointless things, and have moved on to bigger and better things. The more ignorant children, however, are having a blast with this technology, wasting what was probably millions of dollars of work on dumb things like making flags and throwing parades. When they grow up, they'll surely move on.

-Mushroom Pie 'n stuff

I think this song compares parents (working adults) to robots, in the way they move, talk, act, and think. Parents are known to cater to their children, thus "Robots obey what the Children say". In this way, parents are the children's influence on the world. The giant cyborg, therefore, could be a weapon, propaganda, anything that favors the children. Spoiled, indeed.

I always thought the line 'Robots obey what the children say' was 'Robots will be what the children save'. So that was not only a really upbeat and happy line to me, but it also meant children saved our future digital companions....

I am thinking... Maybe the adults of the world are buisy labeling robots as 'preposterous' and 'out of the picture', and are buisy striding along other means of advancement. Meanwhile, the children, contrasting the divided adults, unite, and together create robot technology in short order. Of course, children don't really need anything. So they sit back, relax, and pass time playing games using their robots, watching as 'the real world' makes it's slow way along.

-A Random guy (who goes by Ntevyal on Yahoo IM, just in case.)

It's a parody of the soundtrack from Transformers: the Movie. The original one.

The first thing this song brings to my mind is something that would be unknown to anyone who isn't or was never a part of their highschool's First Robotics team, especially a programmer (which is what I am :D). There is a certain satisfaction in watching your robot do what you were trying to get it to do that makes slaving away in front of a computer for hours worth it. Through programming, we tell the robot what to do, and they do it, and compete with other highschooler-built robots from all around the world. There is a part in the beginning of the competition that especially brings this song to mind where all the robots go around in a circle on the arena, it really looks like a parade. And every robot has a flag (either a red or a blue one) to signafy what alliance it is on. As for a future time... well, um... the future is now? Yes! For we are the Heros Of Tomorrow! -Ganna

I'm sure it was not intended, but the line "There's electric cars; There's electric trains; Here comes a robot with electric brains" sounds to me like an excellent motto for cognitive functionalism, or artificial intelligence more generally. You can imagine an 'electric' version of these sorts of devices you are familiar with that are primarily not electric - cars and trains - well, just do the same thing with brains. There's nothing special about making trains out of mechanical parts, it is just one way you might implement a train. And there's nothing special about making intelligence out of biological parts, it is just one way you might implement it.

It's quite obviously a song about Christianity. The "children" are Christians, while the "robots" are their Jewish Overlords.

And the electric trains? Satan.

Okay, so is that Satan's signature, or are the electric trains supposed to be satanic? If the former, I must say we're to honored to have the Father of Lies visiting the wiki! I mean, I thought he was only interested in metal or punk. Who knew Satan liked They Might Be Giants? --Christina 17:45, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

"This is obviously a thinly veiled autobiography."

I think this is about a robot apocalypse.

To me, Robot Parade always seemed like a cyberpunk version of Lord of the Flies.